Police Nab Criminal Bomb-Making Ring

After wave of violent attacks, police arrest three suspected of supplying bombs to criminals nationwide.

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Maayana Miskin, 11/08/13 09:13

Aftermath of car bomb in Rishon Letzion

Israel news photo: Flash 90

Police have arrested three men who are suspected of running a bomb-making ring that supplied deadly weapons to criminal gangs across the country. The three suspects, all from the Netanya region, are believed to have prepared, sold and distributed the explosives.

Police found a large weapons-producing laboratory in the home of one of the suspects. The bomb lab was located in the middle of a heavily populated residential area.

The arrests follow an undercover investigation. Police have been working to discover the source of the bombs used in several recent attacks.

Since the beginning of the year there have been criminal attacks using bombs in at least four cities. A bomb set off in an attempt to kill crime boss Nissin Alperon wounded nine people in Tel Aviv in January; just over a month later, a similar attack killed two in the city of Rishon Lezion.

“The suspects’ arrests, and the discovery of the laboratory and the bombs that were ready for use and were built for assassinations and for harming people has saved lives, and prevented serious injury to innocent civilians,” declared Southern District police chief Yoram Halevy.